LTE spectrum: How much do the big carriers have?

The top US carriers over the past year have stepped up their efforts to grab more spectrum for 4G wireless data services needed to accommodate a seemingly insatiable and exploding population of iPhone, iPad and other mobile device users.

To get a sense of just how much additional bandwidth carriers will need, consider that Ericsson's most recent Traffic and Market Data report predicted that global mobile data traffic will grow by 10 times between now and 2016. What's more, the FCC has projected the nation's wireless carriers will face a 275MHz "spectrum deficit" by 2014 if no new spectrum is opened up for use. Carriers are going to need that spectrum not only to build out nationwide LTE mobile data networks but also to support critical applications such as Voice over LTE (VoLTE) and eventually move to LTE-Advanced, the next generation of LTE that's projected to deliver average download speeds in the 100Mbps range. Mark Lowenstein, the managing director for consulting and advisory firm Mobile Ecosystem, says that getting significantly more spectrum would allow carriers to promote LTE not just as wireless technology for smartphones and tablets but for high-definition video services as well. Or put another way, while it would be impractical to stream Netflix movies on your Xbox using LTE right now, it might not be that impractical in the future when carriers have significantly more spectrum to play with and can thus charge less money for high data consumption.